Umbrella.



F. C. HULL.

UMBRELLA. APPLICATION FILED SEPT-16' I914.

Patented July 25, 1916.

lUNlTED STA FLETCHER C. HULL, 0F TOLEDO, OHIO.

UMBRELLA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 25, 1916.

Application filed September 16, 1914. Serial No. 862,016.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FLETCHER C. HULL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Umbrellas; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention is an umbrella, and relates more particularly to the ribs thereof, for an umbrella or parasol of the India type, wherein the cover, when distended, presents a substantially flat central portion and a depending edge portion, resulting in a useful device and which is also of ornamental appearance.

This invention consists broadly in providing the frame with a plurality of ribs, each having a portion thereof, such as that near the outer ends, rendered more yielding than the main body of the rib, and in so applying the cover to the frame and the ribs, that when the umbrella is raised the edges thereof will form an annular depending wall, and when the ribs-are folded against the staff, the cover will assume a closely folded position with straight ribs.

Heretofore it has been proposed tokemploy the usual channeled rib and to cut away each side thereof for a portion of the length of the rib to render it more pliable at that section, but this construction has been found to greatly weaken the rib. It has also been proposed to strengthen this weakened portion by applying a separate strip of metal to reinforce the yieldable section. Again, it has been proposed to flatten the upstanding walls of the channeled rib to the same plane as the base of the rib, producing a broad flat section of greater width than the remaining portion of the rib, but this has also been found to be defective, in that the rib is weakened at the flattened portion, and such construction presents difficult problems to solve, namely, to secure the cover to the ribs and to retain the cover in a neat serviceable condition. Moreover, umbrellas constructed with the broad flat resilient section, are found to become twisted when the cover is applied, resulting in an ill-shaped construction.

In overcoming objections to the ribs previously known to me, I have provided a rib having a section which is rendered more yieldable, than the rest of the body of the rib, by folding the side walls of the channeled rib into preferably abutting engagement with each other and against the base of the channel. The resulting rib utilizes all of the strength of the metal at the yieldable section and produces a stronger rib than those hereinbefore referred to, and one which is neater in appearance, and to which it is easier to secure the cover, without unsightly results in the finished structure. As my new ribs are about of uniform width at all places, they are easier to temperas ribs have to be tumbled in order to straighten them as the temper is being drawn.

An embodiment of the invention is disclosed in the accompanying drawings, but it is to be understood that the disclosure therein made is for the purpose of illustration, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a distended umbrella, parts being broken away. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of a rib. Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of a rib. Fig. 4 is a sectional view through a portion of the rib, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view through a yieldable section of the rib.

The umbrella or parasol is provided with the usual staff 1, the ribs 2 and stays 3, as well as the runner and other parts essential to an umbrella'or parasol of this type. In the drawings, the ribs 2 are shown as of the channeled or U-shaped type in cross section. The cover 4 is provided with means whereby its edge 5 may be drawn to the position shown in Fig. 1 when distended, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

The ribs 2 are provided with a section 6 which is rendered more elastic than the remaining portion of the rib, and the cover 4 is preferably secured to the rib at 7 on each side of this flexible section 6, to maintain the cover in its proper relation to the ribs, to present an ornamental appearance at all imes.

To provide the elastic sectionin each of the ribs, each rib is shown having side walls 8 folded down against the base 9 of the channel, so that the top edges S of the walls are shown in abutting engagement with each other while the walls 8 are substantially in contact with the base 9, as will be understood I claim as new and desire to from inspection of Figs. 3 and 5. The folding of the walls 8 against the base 9 is preferably accomplished by greatly contracting the rib as at 10, which forms a stronger union between the flattened yieldable portion 6 and the main body of the rib 2. By this construction, the rib utilizes the entire strength of the metal, as none of the parts are cut away, the section 6 permitting the bending of the rib at this point, and allows v of the ready application of the cover to the ribs, thereby presenting a neater appearance to the ribs of the umbrella.

Although the yieldable section 6 is shown near the outer ends of the umbrella, with the section 11 of, channeled form to present a stiffened outer end thereof, it is obvious that the section 6 may be placed at other points of the rib than that disclosed herein.

Having thus described my invention, what secure by Letters Patent is: e I L 1. An umbrella comprising a plurality of ribs each having the metal of a portion thereof compressed to present a flattened flexible'section, said rib being of the channel type and havingthe side walls thereof folded over toward each other until said walls are parallel with the base of the rib for a predetermined distance adjacent the outer end of the rib, to increase the flexibility. of a portion of the rib near the unconfined end thereof and preserve the strength of the rib at the flattened portion- 2'. An umbrella,- comprising a plurality of ribs and a cover, said ribs having the metal of a portion thereof compressed toprovide a flattened flexible section of the same Width as the remainder of the rib;

'3. An umbrella, comprising a plurality of channeled ribs, each rib having a section I thereof rendered more flexible than the remainder of the rib by compressing the side Walls of the channeled rib inwardly against the base thereof to maintain the flexibility and strength of the rib at the reduced section.

V 4. An umbrella rib of the channeled type comprising a base and side walls, said rib having a section thereof rendered more flexi} ble than the remainder of the rib by folding the side walls inwardly into substantially abutting engagement and against the base.

5. An umbrella rib of the channel type comprising a base and side walls, said rib having a section thereof near its unconfined end rendered more flexible than the remainder of the rib by folding the side walls into parallel relation to the base of the rib and with the edges of the side walls into substantially abutting engagement, said sidewalls being graduallyvaried from a substantially right angle to the base to be in a position superimposed in a plane parallel to said base to form a flexible portionof approximately the sameywidth as the base.

In testimony whereof, I atfix my signature,

in presence of two witnesses.

FLETCHER O. HULL, Vitnesses:

HAROLD F. Srncrinnr, H. G. KUNEY.

Copies oftiiis patent may be obtained -for'five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

